Does your family support your home business goals? When your office is in your home, you need the help of your family to maintain a good work/life balance. But it’s not always easy to get. Children may not understand that you can’t just drop everything to take them to the park on 5 minutes notice; or that phone time means quiet time.
My kids are teenagers now so it’s easier to ask them to give me a few hours undisturbed in my office, but when my youngest was in preschool I worked out of my home as an independent rep for a cosmetics company. It was a challenge then to get my family’s support for my home business goals. I went from being a full time stay-at-home mom to a work-at-home mom and it wasn’t easy for my kids to understand why I couldn’t just put everything on hold for a last minute request.
The start-up phase of a business (or the launch of a major campaign in an existing business) usually requires a good bit of your time to learn new skills and get systems in place. It may be a struggle at first, but it is important to find a balance between your career and your home life now, so your family doesn’t resent the time you have to spend on the business over the long-term.
So how do you get your family to support your home business goals when all they see is mom or dad spending time away from them?
(1) Communication
Have a family meeting or find a quiet time to sit down with younger children and explain to them why you are starting your business. Usually, part of the “why” we work from home is to be able to spend more time with family instead of working 9-5 in an outside office, so let them know that is the main goal.
Explain your schedule in concrete terms: you need to spend an hour working while they read or watch a movie, then you can all go swimming together.
(2) Cooperation
Get your family’s support by including them in the goal-setting process. Teach them that if everyone works together it’s easier to reach family goals. If you are making a goal poster, ask your kids to help design it. Are you tracking your progress on your goals? Let your kids fill in your progress chart.
Maybe your kids want to set some goals too – reading a certain number of books or swimming a certain number of laps in the pool – support their goals and measure your success together.
(3) Participation
Make them a part of your business in some way, no matter how small. My daughters were much younger when I was a cosmetics rep and they enjoyed looking at all the make-up samples. I would let them help prepare any samples I distributed. If I was stuffing gift bags, I would let my girls choose sample colors and fill the bags. Then we’d all go make deliveries (sometimes stopping at a fun place for them on the way home).
My daughters are older now and in my current business, they really do help! My kids help with mailings, proofreading – and their video/photo-editing skills are very valuable! I’ll pay them for special projects so they are more than happy to participate. They are learning valuable entrepreneurial lessons too!
(4) Celebration
Earn your family’s support by sharing the celebration when you reach a milestone or a goal. When you reach your financial goal for the week, take the family out for ice cream. If you’ve earned a promotion or a new title in your company, “promote” your kids as your assistant – if you receive a certificate, make one for them too.
If you are planning on using part of your income for a special occasion (a trip to an amusement park or a weekend at the beach), use a special container to start holding the funds. Your kids will get excited as they see the vacation funds accumulating.
Gaining family support for home business goals may take some creative thinking and persistence, but in the long run your family’s support is going to help you keep a healthy balance in your career and home life. Maybe more importantly, as they watch you find a balance now, your children are learning important skills on how to balance their future career and home life.
“If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.”
Brian Tracy
photo credit (derived from): GoodNCrazy via photopin cc